Luke 15:11-32    NT p. 74 or 1282

[11] Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons.

[12] The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them.

[13] A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.

[14] When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.

[15] So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.

[16] He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

[17] But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!

[18] I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;

[19] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands." '

[20] So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

[21] Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

[22] But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe - the best one - and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

[23] And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;

[24] for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

[25] "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

[26] He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.

[27] He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.'

[28] Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.

[29] But he answered his father, 'Listen !For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.

[30] But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!'

[31] Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

[32] But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.' "

[NRSV]

INTRODUCTION:

I'll never forget the first year we were appointed to one particular church. A young couple with three little girls invited us over for a family birthday party. Their daughter, Megan, was turning 3 years old. Everyone gathered for a meal, birthday cake and presents. As we ate, I noticed that the two older girls were light eaters but not Megan. Megan sat there shoveling it in like crazy. She was literally a two fisted eater. She had a chicken leg in one hand and corn on the cob in the other. She was going to town. She had food from ear to ear.

The next day during my children's sermon, I was talking about a farmer who tried to make pigs act like people. He put clothes on them, bathed them and even set up a table with plates and silverware. But when they started to eat, they ate just like pigs.

I have no idea what the point of that story was going to be because I turned to the kids and asked, "You don't eat like pigs do you?"

And all the kids, including Megan's big sister said: "No." But then she added, "But my sister does!"

And that's all it took. I lost it and so did the whole congregation. Even Mom and Dad.

This morning we come to one of the most familiar parables in all the Gospels. It is commonly referred to as the Prodigal Son. In actuality it's not just about the Prodigal Son. This parable has a few more characters. There's the Prodigal Son, the Merciful Father and the Unforgiving Brother. The Prodigal Son isn't even the central character. The way I see it, the central character of this parable is the Merciful Father.

Now the reason for the title is because years ago I had a member tell me that he had heard this passage preached from every conceivable point of view except one, that of the pig. I thought about using the whole sermon to explore the pig's point of view but that won't take long at all. You, the pig didn't really care what happened to the young man. The pig was oblivious of the young man's existence until the young man lost everything and took the job of slopping the hogs.

When that happened, then the pig's only interest in this young man was whether or not he was on time and how much he brought to eat. When the young man started eating the slop with the pig, then he became competition. And when the young man finally came to his senses and returned home, the pig was happy because there was more slop for him.

And that's pretty much the end of the story. Everything, from the pig's point of view, revolved around the pig. How apropos and ironic. It sounds a whole lot like the life of the younger son, doesn't it? And even the older son. Let's take a look at each of the characters and see what they can tell us about ourselves and our relationship with God

I. THE PRODIGAL SON:

A. Let's look at the younger son first, the one we call the Prodigal Son. Who was this guy? Well, we know he was the youngest son of this family. And in those days, the youngest son didn't inherit much compared to the older son. The older son received the majority of the inheritance, as much as two thirds. The rest was divided amongst the rest of the family.

Obviously the younger brother didn't much care for the farm and didn't much care for the arrangement of the inheritance either. He had crunched some numbers and figured out that if he asked for his inheritance up front, he could be his own boss and do what he pleased. So that's what he did.

Apparently the father knew what kind of young man his son was because he didn't ask him to stay or offer to buy him a new car if he'd stay or anything. He just cashed in his portion of the inheritance, converted it to liquid assets and handed it over. Like that pig, everything revolved around him.

B. But you want to know something, Self Centeredness offers diminishing returns. Especially when all you do is squander your resources. Look at what happened to the Prodigal. He ran off to the far country. He ran off to a life of "riotous living" as the King James Version puts it. He became a party animal.

He started out with a large amount of inheritance. In any other circumstance it probably would have lasted a life time. But each time he went out, each time he partied he wasted it. Until finally there was very little left. (Use diminishing milk routine.)

And then one day his inheritance just dried up. You might even say all his Liquid Assets Dried Up. (Slush Powder)

As a consequence, rather than eating high on the hog, this young man was forced to slop the hogs. Something he wasn't very hog wild about. But just when it looked like it was going to get worse, and much to the pig's great pleasure, this young man realized that he could go home. He knew where to turn. He knew he could return to his father. He might have to go back as a servant, be he could go back.

So, he beat feet for the safety of his home. Out of the pigpen and on the road. The father saw him coming and ran to greet him.

II. THE UNFORGIVING BROTHER:

A. But wait, we'll get to the father in a second. Let's look at the older brother, the Unforgiving Brother.

After the Sunday School teacher told the story of the prodigal son to the Sunday School class one day, she asked, "Was anyone sorry when the prodigal son returned?"

One little boy answered, "The fatted calf." [1]

Obviously, if you read past the party, you find out that the older brother wasn't too happy about his prodigal brother's return. He started grousing and grumbling the minute he heard what was going on. he worked himself up into one stupendous sulk. Even when his father came out to invite him in, he refused.

He was ANGRY. He was so ANGRY (Show Red Fan) he could hardly see straight. So, what was he upset about? Was he REALLY upset that his Father had never given him a party? That was probably part of it. Part of it was probably just sibling rivalry.

But some of it was DEPRESSION. (Show Blue Fan) Depression brought a deep seated sense of justice and fairness that the older brother saw being thrown out the window. He was depressed because his father had never thrown HIM a party.

Now to be honest, some of it may have been nothing more than JEALOUSY. (Show Green Fan) Maybe he secretly harbored jealousy for what his brother had done. Maybe the secret dream of the older brother was to chunk all his responsibilities and go waste his life (at least for a little while) on riotous living, too.

It may have been jealousy but it also may have been FEAR. (Show Yellow Fan) Maybe the older brother was afraid he would have to share his portion of the inheritance with his wastrel brother. Or maybe he was simply afraid to face his own jealousy.

Who knows. Whatever the case, the older brother got downright pigheaded about the whole thing and refused to pig out at the party with everyone else.

But the Father says, you're already in my joy. You already own everything I own. What's mine is yours. And that's the way it has always been. But don't you appreciate the gravity of the situation? I thought your kid brother was dead and gone for good. But here he is. He's alive! Can't you understand that? He's alive. Of course we had to celebrate.

B. The older brother expresses a problem some people have with the whole concept of grace and forgiveness. They're worried about giving too much license to people. They're worried about people taking advantage of God. They're worried that Preaching Grace and Forgiveness seems to say it's okay to do whatever you want as long as you walk in afterward and take the free gift of God's forgiveness.

These folks, like the older brother, are more worried about Justice than they are Grace. They're more worried about Judgment than Repentance. They're more worried about Punishment than they are Mercy.

But Jesus wasn't. Jesus was more concerned with giving the prodigal a welcome kiss and not a lecture. He was more interested in throwing a party than handing out punishment. Jesus was more interested in reinstating the prodigal as a son with a ring instead of putting him on probation. And he was more interested in forgiving than in retribution.

And because of that, Jesus has the father sound like a first century Jack Benny, Now, "cut that out! We're not playing good boys and bad boys any more. Your brother was dead and he's alive again. The name of the game from this point on is resurrection, not bookkeeping. Reconciliation not retaliation." [2]

III. THE MERCIFUL FATHER:

A. That's what this passage is all about.

It's not about the Prodigal's Rebellion and Wastrel Spirit.

It's not about the Older Brother's Faithfulness and Unforgiving Spirit.

This parable is about the Father's Love and Grace. This parable is about the Father's undying love for a lost child. Now, granted that child was lost by his own devices and lost through his own choices. But then, which one of us aren't.

All of us have made Prodigal Choices in our lives. All of us have run off to the far country of our own choosing only find ourselves spiritually bankrupt, alone and starving. We've all made a bad choice or two that has left us feeling empty and alone, like this silk here. (Show blank card silk)

We've made our choices. We've pursued that which wasn't of God and pretty soon we're empty. We're stuck in the far land. We've squandered our inheritance and we're living with the hogs. We're empty. That's when we hear the Good News for the first time or we remember the Good News that was ours through Christ.

Whichever it is doesn't make any difference. The point is that encounter with the Good News leads us back to the porch of the waiting Father. And it's then that we experience the wonders of God's Mighty Love. We look up and we see God running to us. God hasn't even waited until we come through the gate. God doesn't wait for our pre-rehearsed speech of repentance. God doesn't wait.

God lifts us to our feet and throws a robe around us. God holds us close and smiles with a smile that threatens to split his face in two. God throws His head back and laughs because the Prodigal has returned.

And the minute we hear the joyous laughter of God and see the love in His eye; the minute we feel His warm hand on our shoulder welcoming us back; He once again becomes the King of our Hearts. He fills the emptiness of our lives with Himself. (Use King of Hearts Silk)

B. I read a story about a Chinese artist who tried to put on canvas this story of the prodigal son. His first attempt showed the father standing, waiting at the gate, with the son approaching from a distance. He showed it to a Christian friend of his who said, "Oh no, you've got it all wrong! The father shouldn't be standing, waiting at the gate, but rather should be running out to meet his son."

The artist looked astounded and said, "No Chinese father would do that!"

"But don't you see, that's the point," said his Christian friend, "neither would most human fathers. But this is the great story of a father who tells us about God's amazing mercy. God's love is like that!"

The artist then painted a second portrait. This time he showed the father running to meet his son, and in his hurry, he had put on shoes that did not match. [3]

That's what this parable is all about, a Father who is love is so deep and who is in such a hurry to welcome back the child thought lost and dead, that he throws on mismatched shoes.

CONCLUSION:

While on a prayer retreat not too long ago, I was sitting outside. It was a warm spring evening and was I just sitting there enjoying the sights and smells of the camp at night, delighting in God, in the goodness of creation and the ice cream cone I was having for dessert. When all of a sudden, out of nowhere, this basset hound beagle mixed dog came running toward me. Her little body wiggled with excitement. When she got about five feet away, she nearly flew into my lap.

One second she was running, the next second she was air born, and the third second she was in my lap licking my face. All of this took place faster than I could say, "whoa, stop, get down" or anything else. Luckily, I'm a dog person.

At first I thought she just wanted to share my ice cream cone. But I didn't give her any. I did pet her and talk to her. But it became increasingly more obvious, that the only thing this dog wanted was to show ME love. She would jump down and run around checking out all the smells. Occasionally, she would wander away and I thought she was gone. But then she would turn around, see me, and come running back with the same joy and exuberance as when she first saw me. This went on for about 30 minutes or so until I got up and went into my room.

I got to thinking about that incident. As I reflected on it, I realized it was a parable both of God and of our relationship with God. That dog running to me, reminded me of the father in this parable. The father of course represents God and God does come running to us.

When we've strayed, God comes looking for us. That's why Jesus came. That's why He still comes. And when we are finally found, God is so excited that God runs to lavish us with hugs and kisses. That's called Grace. And that's what this passage is all about.

This passage is about our Heavenly Father's Love, Mercy and Grace.

If you've never experienced that then now is the opportunity.

If you feel like you're lost in the far country of sin, and you're separated from God.

If you're dying of spiritual hunger and have squandered your inheritance.

Then know this, God is waiting. God has stepped out onto the front porch and looked down the path leading to His door at least a hundred times today. He did the same thing yesterday and He'll do the same thing tomorrow. What's God looking for? God is looking for you. God is waiting for you to return home. God has the party already planned. He has the party clothes and ring already picked out. The calf is being fattened as we speak.

God has put out this huge spread. There is more on this smorgasbord of Love, Mercy and Grace than you or I could ever digest in a million years. There's enough for Eternity.

So what are you waiting. God's waiting for you. You're not buying a pig in a poke. You know what's coming. You know God's wants you to come home.

There's a party being thrown in your honor. So, come on in and make a pig of yourself. God's waiting.

1. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), November 1986

2. Robert Farrar Capon, "Between Noon and Three" .Christianity Today-Vol. 30, #7.

3. From a sermon by Rev. Eric S. Ritz

4.